The Nexus
by Branfon
Summary: We've all seen that Buffy's resurrection caused trouble. Now we see yet another consequence. Could this one actually turn out positive in the end? Post Chosen and Not Fade Away. chapter Glitch fixed.
1. No time for an Airplane

**Disclamer: I don't own anyone in this story, and I'm making no money from it.**

"Xander.." Willow spoke softly from behind the kitchen counter; Her face only mildly reflected the true horror she had just discovered.

"Yeah Will?" His face didn't pull away from the TV.

"Xander, this is important." Nothing truly major had happened since the months following the end of Sunnydale, other then the Scoobies all getting a place together in Nevada. This trend was shattered with just a few words, "It's about Anya."

Xander got up so fast he nearly fell out of his chair. He hadn't spoken a word about her since the day she died. "That's my girl; always doing the stupid thing," he had said after finding out she died to save someone else. No one ever brought it up again they knew it would be too painful. "What about her?"

A long pause followed. Willow couldn't find the words for what she had to say. "I've been reading these texts about the afterlife.. And there is a hell dimension where all demons… current and former go when they die." She felt like such a huge statement should have taken longer to say, but that's really all it took.

For a moment Xander just looked at her. "But she died saving the world, surely that--"

"No exceptions." she cut in in hushed tones. She knew what this was to him. Everyone had tiptoed around Xander since after it all happened, and Willow herself went to great lengths to find a way to replace his missing eye, which she did, to try to keep his mind off of it. Now, however, something worse then her death had presented itself, and something had to be said.

"What do we do?" He asked. He had switched back into Scoobie mode as if the months hadn't passed.

"Well… I don't know. I should--" Her eyes went black, and her fingers twitched as if volts of electricity coursed through her.

" _THE WITCH, THE ANGEL, THE DEMON, AND THE VESSEL, ALL TIED WITHIN THE GRANDKA SHADOW, EACH FEELING THE PAIN OF THE LAST, AND THE ONE AFTER THEM. THE QUAD-NEXUS HOLDS WITHIN THEIR DEATHS THE FATE OF THE WORLD. THE BLACKENING OF THE SKY SHALL BE THE FIRST PRECURSOR, THE NEXT THREE WILL BE LESS AMBIGUOUS, THESE WORDS ARE WARNING, THE QUAD-NEXUS MUST BE FOUND AT THE GRANDKA TEMPLE BEFORE THE PASSING OF THE FIRST SIGN. OGACI TEMRAZ, RENTHOU CLENTHO."_

Her eyes went back to normal and she suddenly seemed somehow much smaller. Before anything else could happen she fell to the floor and broke into sobs. Xander moved to help her but with a wave of her hand he was immobilized.

"What… what the hell was that?" He asked, not trying to move anymore. She stopped suddenly and franticly searched for a pen while repeating the last for words she had said, she somehow knew they were very important. "Will, what was that? Quad-Nexus? Fill me--" She waved her hand and said "silence," which caused him to stop talking. Giving up the search for a pen she said the words aloud and suddenly they burnt themselves into the counter.

"I have no idea what that was. That outburst, possession, whatever the hell it was supercharged me. I haven't had this much power since…" She couldn't find the words. "I have to call Giles." She waved her hand at Xander and he could move and talk once more. He looked at her with a pain and also a fear. She picked up the phone, then turned just in time to see Giles appear with a green flash in the living room just behind her. "Giles, something is going on and I--"

"Don't worry Willow, I've been informed. We must get to L.A. Angel needs us." He looked at her. "Have you been crying? I never realized that you would cry at the prospect of Angel being in danger. Oh, I'm missing something, aren't I?" In the middle of his misguided out poor his face had filled with a sudden recognition.

Willow and Xander just looked at him, the phone still in her hand, him still in the kitchen. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure we all are." Xander said slumping against the door frame.

"You go first." Willow said hanging up the phone. Her head was still tilted to the side.

He obviously had planed what to say and this confusion had cut into his stride. "Well.. The coven I practice with in England sensed something earlier today, then Buffy called me soon after to tell me that Angel had basically called to say goodbye. The coven supplied me with their powers again like when.. Well you know, so I teleported here. Something is going on in L.A. on an apocalyptic level. Now what on earth is going on here?" He finished.

"I think I had a… prophecy. It really gave me the wiggins." He scoffed a little at this word he had heard so many times, yet never really come to understand. "It gave me a major mystical boost, I mean heavy duty magic." Her eyes pulsed black then back again. She fell to her knees. "Wesley.. Giles. It's already started. We have to get Buffy."

Giles was taken aback by this news, he really had expected more time, so this declaration of Willows was a shock.. "She is already on a flight there. I've--"

"No, you don't understand, Wesley is Dead. This has started," black was bleeding into the whites of her eyes as she walked toward Giles and Xander, "We don't have time for Airplanes" she said, grabbing them both by their shirts, and then they all vanished.


	2. Moot Point

Disclamer: None of these characters are mine.

"I wish we didn't already have to go back, B. Europe isn't all history like I though. And the guys in Italy, Momma Mia." Faith said to Buffy sitting next to her as she popped a peanut in her mouth. Buffy was lost in her own thoughts though, not really listening to Faith at all.

"Yeah." she responded a little half heartedly. She still hadn't told Faith why they needed to go to L.A. so urgently, just that they had to. Saying out loud that Angel might already be gone would just be too much for her. Her and Andrew had put up very little argument after she promised another trip soon.

"I didn't like the Italy." Andrew said to Faith. "Everyone there was hairy."

"Oh, come on. No they weren't." Faith responded aghast. Their conversation went on for a minute then a sudden breeze hit Buffy's skin.

"Hey.. Hey guys." She smacked Faith's arm to get her attention. "Why is there a gust of wind on an airplane?" Faith and Andrew looked around, then suddenly a black eyed Willow appeared holding Giles and Xander by the shirt. Xander fell to the ground coughing.

"Oh no, is she going all dark Wicca again? I can't deal with another Dark Phoenix moment. Buffy, tell Jean Gray to chill out." Andrew said undoing his seatbelt.

"That was wholly irresponsible, Willow." He motioned at the shocked passengers. "All these people just…," he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "moot point I guess."

"Buffy. Wesley is.. Wesley's gone. Whatever's going down is going down now, we have to go." Willow put out her hand for Buffy to take.

"Okay." Buffy said after only a moment's hesitation. Her and Faith took hold of Willow's hand and they all vanished.

"Alright then," Andrew called at the now vanished group, "I guess I'll be fine on the plane. I've got a really good seat anyways...and I hate wasting!"


	3. Having Heart

Disclamer: None of these characters are mine.

In L.A. the group found themselves on top of a building looking down. Xander was starting to regain some composure after the trip, which was very hard on a normal person.

In the alleyway next to the building Angel, Illyria, a badly wounded Gunn, and Spike. From the other side of the alley a small army of demonic foes started in on Angel and his group. Buffy started to take charge. "Willow, you seem pretty charged, what do you think you can do?" Willow looked panicked for a moment, fearful of using her powers too much, but realizing that she teleported without any damage knew that she would be fine.

"Remember when I had black hair? Well it's pretty much like that."

"Alright, you do what you can to hold those demons off. Xander, get him," she motioned at Gunn, "out of there. Faith, you and I are going to do what we do best," she realized that Faith had no idea what was going on at all, ",save the questions for later." "Uh… Giles… you stay here. Alright, go."

"Lets go to work." Angel said, walking toward the army of demons coming in his direction. Suddenly Buffy and Faith fell from the roof each holding one of Xander's arms. The girls turned and started in on the demons while Xander ran past Angel to Gunn.

"It's raining bloody slayers," Spike said to Angel right before they, along with Illyria charged to fight along side the slayers.

Willow managed to take out a good amount of them without trouble, then she descended from the roof to get more personal about it. Angel went right for the Dragon, running his blade into it's heart then saying something about it being easier then he expected right before getting punched in the face by another demon. A demon lunged for Buffy and before she had time to react Giles sent lighting through it's chest, killing it. He cleared her dumbstruck face with a shrug and the words, "My coven," then they both went back to fighting.

"Willow!" Xander yelled "Willow, he's not breathing." She stopped fighting and ran over to them. She put one hand on his chest and another on his wound and soon enough he was awake again, nearly fine. Her eyes went back to normal.

"I'm all maxed out." She sat down breathing really heavy. "Don't make me feel like I wasted all that magic on you Gunn." she said handing him the sword he had dropped. He recovered from the shock instantly and charged into the battle too. Suddenly her eyes turned black again. "_TAKE THE HEART OF THE DRAGON TO HELP GUIDE YOURSELVES TO THE QUAD-NEXUS, THEN BURN THE SLAIN TO MAKE THE XAON ELIXER. THE KEYS TO THE DOOR HAVE BEEN HANDED DOWN, NOW YOU MUST OPEN THE DOOR." _the voice wasn't Willow's at all this time, but a man's. As soon as the voice stopped, Willow jumped into action. Her eyes went totally black, then her pupils turned white and glowed. "Everyone, back." she ordered. The last of the demons had just fallen. Everyone did what she said. "Heart!" she commanded, and the dragon's heart ripped itself from his chest and flew into her hand. "Ignis," she said, and the bodies in the alley caught on fire. Everyone else was startled as ran to Willows side to escape the flames. The flaming demons all rose into the air and their ashes flew into an urn Willow had summoned from seemingly nowhere.

Giles was the first to speak. "What are you doing?" He sounded totally shocked. Everyone's faces mirrored his, except Spikes, which seemed to be on the edge of glee.

"I had another one, the voice took control again I mean, that's how I got recharged. I've never felt this powerful. I don't know what's doing this, but it's stronger then anything.. Ever. It told me I had to do this, said it was a key to the door. I still have no idea what it was taking about." The urn closed, and the heart was suddenly in a marble box. "We all here?" She asked, then she made them all vanish and reappear in the living room back in Nevada.


	4. The mouth with which I speak

Disclamer: I own none of the characters.

"I still don't understand what's going on." Angel said. Willow had tried to explain the whole thing to everyone as best as possible, but it wasn't coming off right. She herself didn't even know what possessed her, and had no real idea about what the voice had been talking about.

"We don't really get it either," Willow said. She shyly looked at the floor.

Giles suddenly had an idea. "What was going on when this happened. I mean, it can't have been Angel's thing. That was hardly an 'end of the world'."

"Yeah, just the end of our lives." Said Spike, sarcastically.

"You're not alive at all, but be that as it may…" Giles looked back at Willow, "there has to have been something else that triggered this… thing."

"We were both just standing around here, and I just told Xander that…" Willow stopped dead in her tracks. Her speech picked up speed, "Anya… I was telling Xander that Anya is…" her voice got very slow again, "trapped in a hell dimension." Then she whispered to herself. "The demon."

"What was that?" Gunn asked.

"The first time that thing spoke through me it spoke of something it called the Quad-Nexus." Illyria hadn't really been listening, but at the mentioning of the Quad-Nexus she turned around. "It also said four different things to. The Witch, the Angel, the Demon, and the Vessel. When it happened we were talking about Anya, a former Demon. Could that have triggered it?"

"Tell me of this." Illyria said making everyone turn around shocked, they had all forgotten she was there. "The Quad-Nexus isn't unknown to me."

"Oh, Fred. I hadn't noticed you." Willow said with a smile.

"Fred is no more. I'm Illyria. She had fond memories of you, Willow, but she is dead." Willow wasn't given time to adjust to this new way of thinking, however, because Illyria just charged right on. "Tell me of this now. If a prophecy about the Quad-Nexus had been made then the world might just need saving again." Noticing Willows inability to continue she changed her face to look just as Fred's had. "Does this help?" Willow yelped a little bit. Then told them about prophecy as word for word as she could.

"The Grandka Shadow is a hell dimension," Illyria said to them. "reserved for demons."

"So Anya is the Demon in the prophecy… who are the others?" Giles said.

Willow was looking at pictures on the wall. Her eyes lingered on a picture of her in the arms of another girl. "Could the witch be Tara?" She turned around to Giles. "No.. I somehow know. The Witch is Tara."

Angel looked up. "Cordelia; could she be the angel? I mean, she had all that stuff with the Powers that Be and she…" He looked at Willow as he cut himself off. The look on her face told him yes.

"Funny," said Faith. "I'd have pegged Angel here as The Angel. I mean, he has the name down and he is all, well, goodie-goodie." Angel was going to counter her statement but Willow started talking first.

"I guess it's like a triggered memory. Before, since the it spoke through me I've felt like something had just slipped my mind, or I knew I was forgetting something, like when you know you didn't put something in your suitcase but you don't know what it is. As soon as I thought about them in regards to the titles given to them in the… thing I remembered. So, we have all of them but one."

Angel, Spike, and Gunn all looked at Illyria, who in turn turned to the wall. "Fred, the Vessel. My Vessel." Illyria turned to Willow then. "Is this true?" She asked.

Willow nodded. "No," Illyria said. "In the past the Quad-Nexus has always been four living woman, activated before just before the Temple resurfaced; each connected to the others. But all these woman are dead."

"_THIS IS WHAT WE CALL A DEAD END."_ Willows head tilted back for a moment., then she looked at Illyria as if he knew her. _". I HUST BE BREIF, BEING WITHIN THIS GIRL'S BODY WILL HARM HER IF I STAY FOR TOO LONG."_

No one could take their eyes off of Willow. The voice coming out of her mouth was totally separated from her, it didn't even sound like it was coming from her mouth. Not a bit of it sounded like her.

"THESE GIRLS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF A FEW DISRUPTIONS OF FATE'S DESIGN. THE RESURECTION OF THE SLAYER IS ONE."

"Which bloody time?" Spike said.

"HER MOST RECENT. WHEN THE VAMPIRE KNOWN AS THE MASTER KILLED HER, AND ONE ALEXANDER HARRIS BREATHED LIFE INTO HER, THAT WAS SEEN, KNOWN TO BE PART OF FATE'S DESIGN. IT WAS THE FATE'S WAY OF BRINGING ABOUT A SECOND SLAYER,. HOWEVER, THE ONE I USE AS A VESSLE GREW MUCH MORE POWERFUL THEN WE EVER THOUGHT SHE COULD BECOME, AND SHE BROUGH BACK THE SLAYER AFTER SHE ENDED HER OWN LIFE FOR THAT OF THE KEY. ALL THE EVENTS AFTER THAT KNOCKED FATE'S PLAN OUT OF ORDER. ALSO, THE ACTIONS OF THE ONE YOU KNOW AS JASMINE SHOOK THEIR PLAN AS WELL, DIRECTLY INFLUENCING THE DEATH OF THE ANGEL, BUT IT WAS THE RESURECTION REALLY SEALED IT. HOWEVER, NO BLAME IS TO BE DELT, THE RESULTS WERE UNFORSEEN BY ALL, AND THE CHAIN REACTION SAVED THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS, EVEN IF IT DAMNED FOUR,"

Willow's body was clearly getting weaker. She sat down, which was the first time she had moved any part of her body other then her head at all since the voice took hold of her. _"BUT I MUST SAY THAT THE FATES WILL REGAIN CONTROL AFTER YOU GET THE FOUR OF THEM TO THE TEMPLE."_

"Last time we brought someone back we needed her body. Anya and Tara's are gone." Xander said.

"And Fred's is currently inhabited," Said Gunn motioning to Illyria.

"_NONE OF THIS REALLY MATTERS. THE MOUTH WITH WHICH I SPEAK WILL KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM. MY TIME HERE IS SPENT." _It was a good thing Willow was already sitting down, because the force with which the voice left her body this time would have knocked her to the floor. Her breathing was heavy but a smile stretched across her face. "We can bring them back."


	5. Beautiful Sunrises

Disclamer: None of these characters are mine.

Willow and Giles had left the room to talk about their quickly forming plan. Angel looked at the hallway after the two of them left the room. "I thought she lived in Brazil, and you in Africa." He said to Xander.

"Well after a while we both realized we missed America. That and Willow and Kennedy split up." Xander got up from his seat. "We made this place like Buffy and Dawn's house was back in Sunnydale: Open to all current and past Scoobies. I guess you guys will be staying for a while, the basement doesn't have windows so you and Spike can stay down there…" Xander looked over at spike for a minute. "Actually, Spike can sleep outside if he wants to, Nevada has beautiful sunrises." Xander didn't hear Spike calling him a Git Poofter because he turned to Illyria and Gunn and was talking to them now. "You two can stay down there if you want too, but if not this couch pulls out into a bed." he realized they were both in pretty deep though so he decided to leave it for later.

"So Buff, where's Dawnie?" Xander asked Buffy who was on the arm of the chair next to Faith who was slumped in it nearly asleep.

"We got a place in Rome, she stayed there cause we had to leave so fast, and cause I had no idea what we were walking into." Buffy stopped for a second and got an "oh," face. "Hey Willow?" She called to the room Giles and Willow were in. She came out and looked at Buffy. Buffy could tell that she was in Full scoobie mode.

"Do you think you could twitch your nose and get Dawn and Andrew?" Dawn waved her hand and both of them appeared, Dawn in the chair where Xander had been sitting, and Andrew in between Gunn and Angel.

"Dang, Harry just opened the chamber. That was the best in-flight-movie I've ever seen." Angel just looked at him. "Well… aren't you just Voldemort Jr."

"What's going on? I mean one moment I'm about to put butter on my toast, then the next I'm here." Dawn said looking at the assortment of faces in the living room of he second home.

"Willow is all Wicca Bad-ass only without the 'end all' attitude." Buffy said. Dawn just shrugged.

"So, obviously Angel isn't dead, what's going on?" Asked Dawn looking from Angel back to Buffy.

As Buffy tried to fill Dawn in on the goings on of the past few hours, Faith and Xander talked. "So, how is that new eye treating you? That was some pretty wicked work Willow did." Faith said to Xander with a smile.

"Great. I'm still kind of getting used to it being a lot better then my normal one. I pretty much have a magical zoom lens strapped to my head. How are things cross the pond?"

"Everything is five by five, I was getting a little fidgety back in Rome. They don't have vamps like we used to have back in Sunnydale, so I was getting antsy. I'm a girl that loves to slay."

Willow and Giles finally came back. "I know what we have to do." Willow said. "There is a reason we moved to Nevada, seems fate used the little power it still had to steer us here so we could use what's called the Plateau to bring back the Quad-Nexus, um, the girls. It's one of the most powerful dimensional points on the planet, kinda like a Hellmouth without all the fanged."

"What, just like that we are going to bring them back?" Xander asked, a little panicked.

"When we brought me back it didn't really work out for the best. I had that whole depression thing and the lying, and the musical… but that wasn't my fault. But still it was bad." Buffy added.

"Well when you were gone they had no idea where you were. We know exactly where they are, and heaven it isn't. According to what we now know all four of the girls are in this hell world, and unless we do something soon we will find ourselves in a similar situation because we are now facing a real apocalypse. No matter what we want or think is right, this is the only way. It would be best if we leave. Now." Giles finished.


	6. Out of the Factory

Disclamer: I don't own any of these people.

They group sans Spike and Angel walked across the dessert, it was Dusk, but still too bright for the two of them to be out. "I like walking as much as the next leather clad gal, but can't you just whisk us to this plateau like to took us from the plane?" Faith asked Willow.

"No, I have to save my energy for this. We have to resurrect 4 people and we don't even have their bodies," she glanced at Illyria for a minute then continued. "It's going to be really hard, if it wasn't for the boosts I got from that voice I know I wouldn't be able to do it."

"Well, we don't have to worry about the sun anymore," Dawn said., "These clouds are going to block it out for a while." Rolling black clouds came from the east, looming like smoke.

"That isn't clouds, child." Illyria said. Her face showed signs of withdrawn fear.

"That's the first sign." Said Willow.

"Oh, the prophecy thing." Dawn said. "Well, the evil black sky blocks out the sun. How long will this last?"

"For a while, there are other signs that are going to happen before this clears, could be hours, could be days, but I'm betting on days." Willow said.

"It will be days. About a week, unless the Quad-Nexus gets to the temple. Well, it's supposed to stay there for a week, though no one has ever seen it vanish before the temple is occupied, if that was so the Earth would be here anymore." Illyria said.

Buffy, suddenly picking up on Dawn's almost forgotten though pattern called back to the house, telling Spike and Angel where to find them.

"I just don't like it, what if this black doom thing clears up, I mean the weatherman has been wrong before." Spike said on the way to the rest of the group.

"Calm down spike, this isn't a weatherman thing, it's a prophecy thing." Angel replied. When they finally got to the rest of the group they made their way to the plateau. When they finally got there Willow told them what they were going to have to do.

"This ceremony will be able to bring them back, but because they don't have bodies this will be done differently. They have corporeal forms in the hell dimension, so the only way to give them bodies here, we have to do it physically. The spell will split us up and take each of us to the Grandka Shadow--"

"You're sending us to hell?" Faith broke in. "I don't remember asking for a tour of Hades living room."

"I'm not sure that I'm down for that, either." Gunn added.

"Hey, this is to get back Cordie, Fred, Tara and Anya. I don't like it either, and I've already been to hell, but it's the only way to bring them back, and apparently to save the world." Angel said. This stifled any other arguments.

"We have to decide four people to hold a piece of the dragon heart, which will work as an anchor to pull them, and the rest of us, into the Shadow."

"I'll take one," Said Faith.

"Me too," Said Andrew, and after looking at the looks he received, "never mind."

"I wish to take one." Illyria said. "This is partly my fault."

"I'll take one." Angel said.

"And I'll take the last," Willow said, "So, I'm not sure how this will work. I just know we don't decide who goes with us, so everyone get weapons now." Everyone walked over to Xander, who was holding a bag of weapons on his back.

"Alright, there isn't anymore time to waste, the plateau is just beyond this hill, the four of us have to each stand on one edge of the compass that we will have to draw, everyone else has to stand in the middle. I'll say the words and that will take us there. Each of the leaders will know the incantation as well, so as soon as you find your charge say them, and you will come back here. Everyone understand?"

There were murmurs of agreement as they made their way over the last hill to the plateau, which wasn't really a plateau at all but a cliff overlooking a valley. Willow drew the compass with the ashes of the demons from the Hyperion, then stood on one of the points. Buffy, Angel, and Illyria followed suit. "Everyone else, in the middle." The rest of the group got in the center of the compass.

"Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha" Willow said. The Compass was suddenly surrounded by a flaming circle. The compass started spinning very fast until everything was just a blur. Sudden cracks of lighting within the blurred wall of flames made Dawn scream.

"Hey Willow Wonka, I want out of the boat and out of the Factory!" Spike yelled over the earsplitting noise that was being caused by the spinning. The compass itself started glowing, and then with a blinding flash they were all gone.


	7. Rubicon

Disclamer: Not my characters. I don't own em.

North Grandka: Willow

"Hey guys?" Willow called out, her face worried. She was at the top of a small mountain overlooking a fiery wasteland. A single path was seen snaking its way from the foot of the mountain to what seemed to be a city. Endless fire stretched out from either side of the path, and she could hear screaming from every corner of this hell she had brought herself to. The sky was a deep orange with highlights of black and red, and somehow gave this endless place a very claustrophobic feel.

"Hey there." Said Xander. "I knew I would end up with you." He said. "A water cooler salesman could make a killing here."

"I'm here too!" Andrew said getting up from of the ground. "I'm really happy I didn't end up with that Fred look alike person, she wasn't very friendly looking."

Willow looked at him. "I really didn't understand her either… but no time to think about it now. We have to go find… whoever is here," She started down the mountain and waved for them to follow," lets go, this place just screams brimstone and danger."

Grandka South: Angel

"Oh great, this is going to be a fun ride through Drama Land," Spike said, looking from the standing Angel, to Buffy, who had fallen down in the snow they now found themselves in. The blizzard was so thick they could only see in front of themselves about 20 feet, after that it was impossible. "Yeah, it oughta be fun filled." Buffy just looked at the two vampires and started walking in the direction Angel pointed.

Grandka East: Faith

"Looks like we've crossed the Rubicon," Faith said looking at he the massive forest spread out before them. The ancient trees loomed like sentinels, menacing. Even though they were on top of a grassy cliff the trees were almost as tall as the cliff was high. The rain fell in thick sheets, and were it not for the cliff they were on being under another one that jutted out just above them they would be soaked.

"So, it's Faith, myself, Dawn, and… what was it, Charles?" Giles said.

"Gunn." He said.

"Oh yes, sorry."

"This isn't so bad." Dawn said. "I didn't expect to be a place where I could see fluffy bunnies."

Faith still hadn't turned around. She motioned to the tree tops in front of them. "Fluffy bunny that thing is not."

Grandka West: Illyria.

"So, alone I guess," Illyria thought, "That's how I prefer it." Her world was a city of clay and stone. A few of the beings that dwelled there saw her, and cautiously looked her over from their windows and from around corners. She walked down what appeared to be the main street until a massive creature stood in her path. "Move aside."

"You're here to fetch the human, aren't you?" He asked, ignoring her order.

"Yes."

"I figured, you look just like her. I won't allow it." He practically grunted. His huge gray body was bulky and flabby at the same time. His teeth came out at odd angles, and he wore primal spiked armor.

"Why not?" She asked the much taller demon.

"Because we figure that she is part of the reason this place is the way it is." He said sounding almost astonished that she didn't already know this.

"Why do you think this?"

"Well, things started to get strange a while back when two humans arrived here. The rules got bent, place suddenly had two season that changed randomly. One of the humans told us she was the demon Anyanka. A vengeance demon confirmed it. The other had been a witch. Then a third season started when yet another human arrived, and they started changing in a more rapid succession, and nothing made sense, we would find ourselves miles away from where we had been moments before, for no reason. Then just a few days later the human that looks like you appeared here, and Grandka became four different worlds. This place is livable, it doesn't even seem like a hell anymore. I'm not letting you bring things back to the way they were."

"So you think you're going to stop me?"


	8. Bigger Boat

I don't own any of the characters

Grandka North: Willow

"God, can't we slow down?" Andrew asked.

"No, Andrew. You didn't have to come you know." Willow said as they made their way down the path. The mountain hadn't really been that big an issue, compared to the growing heat. Now surrounded by fire true heat was understood.

"How can anyone live in this?" Xander asked.

"They can't, that's why this is an afterworld. Nothing here can die because it's already dead." Willow said. Then a little way up the path a female demon approached them. Willow readied herself to attack, but the demon just clung to her shirt.

"You are here to take the human, yes?" she said in a Sicilian accent.

"Yes." Willow said, shocked.

"She is directly north of here inside of a building. Please take her, she has plunged us into this fire, it was never this unbearable before. If anyone in the city ahead asks anything of you just tell them you have come to end this, and take the human. I beseech you!" Willow nodded. The woman turned to the flames. A fiery hand flew from them and grabbed her ankle. "A GRAKARCIAN!" she exclaimed as it pulled her into the lake of licking flames. Another hand reached out of the flames, and then a face, covered in flames with two black eyes, followed by a torso and the rest of it's upper body. None of them had considered the flames to be deep enough to conceal this giant, but that fathoms of depth were now apparent. It slammed its fist down in front of them, causing a gap between them and the rest of the path, then it slammed its fist on the other side of them, cornering them.

"GELIDUS" she screamed waving her hand at it, and it's head was suddenly covered in ice, it still somehow managed to screech in pain, but fell back into the flames. "We need to not be here." She said, then levitated the three of them across the broken path, then they all broke into a run until they were in the city.

Grandka South: Angel

"But I still don't understand what you see in him. I get that your cookie dough still and all that but come on. He is stealing my thunder." Angel said quietly to Buffy as they trudged through the snow.

"Angel, I'm not with either of you. I thought Spike was dead, it makes things a little… complicated." Buffy said.

"Us Vampires have remarkable hearing, you know? I figured you would, seeing as one of you is the slayer of vampires, and the other is a member of the club himself. Get over it Gel-head, she likes me better." Spike said.

"I do not use that much hair gel. Besides, she loves me, we have a special love." Angel got that awkward look on his face that he always got when talking about matters of the heart. Buffy just walked on.

"Hey, you know, I could be mad at you." Angel said. "You were supposed to love me too."

"Angel, we already talked about this, and lets not forget that the person we could be going to save is someone that was part of your dreamed up perfect life and I wasn't, so you aren't exactly Mr. 100 when it comes to the love area. Can we please get going?" Buffy said. Angel left it at that.

"At least we shagged more then once"

Both Buffy and Angel turned around and screamed "SPIKE!"

Grandka East: Faith

"We are ganna need a bigger boat." Faith said looking at the behemoth making its way just above the top of the trees. "Oh come on, Angel just killed that thing." The dragon from the alley, still with a hole in it's chest was making its way right for them, fire breath and all.

Dawn screamed. "Oh dear." was all Giles could say. Gunn just said Damn.

"Think you have enough mojo left to take that thing out?" Faith asked Giles. He shook his head. "didn't think so." She took off into a run and jumped off the cliff and seemingly flew toward the dragon. Giles put out his hand just before she fell beneath the tree line and used what magick he still had to guide her to the dragon. She landed on it's neck and punched it in the head over and over again, just around then everyone noticed the weapons Xander had given them were gone.

"What are you doing?" Gunn yelled at her.

"I'm a slayer, I slay." she said.

"Well that thing is already dead, we can't kill it more." Giles said.

"Dawn, how about some of that magick you learned, eh?" Faith screamed from the now spinning dragon.

Giles looked at Dawn questioningly, but she just walked to the edge of the cliff. She started glowing a little bit, and then gold light flew from her fingertips to the dragon. Faith jumped off it's back and onto a tree branch just in time. As dawn wrangled with the dragon Giles guided Faith back onto the cliff.

"Down him, kid." Faith said. Dawn nodded, then forced her hands, and the dragon down. It flew beneath the trees, and soon they heard it hit the ground.

"I don't understand." Giles said looking at Dawn, then Faith and back.

"So is every girl from Sunnydale this badass? I'm happy I never lived there, ex-girlfriends would be impossible." Gunn said.

"In Rome I started noticing things that I could do. I can channel energy from other dimensions, must be a key perk." Dawn said. "I think I can open portals to other worlds too, but Willow said that I probably shouldn't do that till we knew more about my powers."

Giles just looked dumbfounded. "With how much it's raining, and how high we are, how the hell do we get from here to where we need to be?" Gunn asked. Dawn started go glow again.

"It rains a lot in Europe."

Grandka West: Illyria

Illyria had become very fond of punching demons in the face, and these demons reacted to it just as the man who killed Wesley did. She found herself hitting harder whenever she though of him. She just kept hitting over and over again until all the demons from the square had either died, been knocked out, or fled. She turned and started walking west.

Each time she encountered a demon it was always the same, they ask her if she is trying to get the human, she says yes, and then she kills them, well, she punched them hard enough that it would take them quite a while to heal. Immortality wasn't all it was made up to be when you can live through getting your face punched in. After a while she started thinking about what it would be like to see her host, who she had never really met, face to face.

"Hello, I am the one who killed you." She though. "I am the one that took over your body, and liquefied your organs, nice to finally meet you.' This is futile. How will she react to me? Why do I feel like this will make up for me being too late to save Wesley?" Another demon crossed her path, another demons blood covered her hands.


	9. Whispers

I don't own any of the characters

Grandka North: Willow

"This city is even hotter then the flames out there. I tried to lean on a building for a minute and I burned my arm." Xander said.

"You shouldn't have been leaning on the wall anyways, Xander. We don't have time for it." Willow said.

"Wait," Xander said "There is something up there." he said. After walking for a while they hadn't seen any demons. Considering this was where every demon ever was supposed to go they all thought that was odd. Their questions were answered when a giant hand swiped all the buildings to the left of them away. The massive fire giant was back. It stood in a volcano-like hole in the middle of the stone city. It's face was less flame covered now, but flames still came from his skin in places. He had a scabbed over look that they guessed had nothing to do with the ice.

"About half a mile that way there is a building that isn't like the rest, it seems to be connected to… a something." Xander said.

"Thank you, captain Freak Eye, but there are more pressing matters at hand. Willow, freeze the human torch senior's face again!" Andrew said.

"He has a barrier around himself." she said. "I think it's a fool me twice thing. Incautum!" she screamed the last word and whatever barrier he had up before vanished. She waved her hand at his chest this time and said "INCIDO!" The wave rippled through the air until it hit the thing, cutting it in half. It fell back with a screech into the buildings behind it. It's flames went out, and it just lay there, finished.

"Wow. Score one for the good witch." Andrew said.

"I don't know, still kinda gives me the wiggins, all this power I mean." she said.

"So, lets go to the building connected to the thing." Xander said. They walked the rest of the way into the city and stopped at the foot of the building. Unlike the others it looked totally unaffected by the flames around it. It looked like a building you would find in a normal city, made of steel and glass. "So that fire thing was part of this world? Kind of like a device to cause these demons eternal pain?" Xander asked.

Willow could tell from the look in his eyes that he was asking because he didn't like the idea of those things toying with Anya. She didn't like the idea of them hurting Tara either. "Lets just not think about it. Lets just get our girls and go home. Willow ripped the doors off their hinges with a movement of her hand and they started up a set of stairs. After a few flights they reached the top where they saw a girl curled up in the corner, her face was hidden by her hair and her shoulder. Willow heard a whisper of the voice in her head. _"the witch."_

Suddenly it was as if the nickel dropped, and she knew. "Tara? Tara it's me, Tara come here." Willow said rushing to the corner and putting her arms around the cowering person in the corner. Tara looked at Willow and didn't smile, she started crying.

"I can't take anymore torment. I'm broken, don't you get it. You don't need to show me these visions of her face, I get it, I understand what I'll never see again." she said.

"No Tara it's really me. And Xander, and Andrew. Please look at me." Tara looked at Willow, the smallest amount of hope in her eyes.

"Andrew…"

"From the Trio, yes." Willow said smiling at Tara who was starting to believe. She had a feeling that sending the friend of the one who killed you for a friendly visit wasn't very good torment.

"I was a pure saiyajin but now--"

"Andrew, if you say Goko I'll throw you in a fire pit," Xander said.

Tara and Willow just smiled at each other. "I'm going to take you home" Willow said. "Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha" she said. She had expected to feel something happen, a spinning upheaval, or a loud pop, but nothing happened at all. Willows face sank.

"What it is Will?" Xander asked.

"I don't know." was all she could muster.

Grandka South: Angel

Angel, Buffy and Spike kept walking in the snow. What seemed to be a city of ice and stone had sort of crept up on them, but they kept on walking. Spike slipped on some ice. "Alright there, Spike?" Angel asked.

He was about to call Angel a right git, but he looked down and saw a tusked face in front of him. "Bloody hell!" he said jumping up. "There, in the ice, a demon. Right ugly one too." Angel and Buffy looked at it, and started to realize that the place was filled with iced over demons.

"I think we should just hurry up and get out of here." Buffy said. "I don't want to meet whatever managed to incase that in ice." she said pointing to a house sized demon covered totally.

They all almost ran into a building that was snow and ice free. It looked nothing like the others they had seen. "This must be it. Buffy, you wait out here for a minute." She started to argue, but realized it was best, just in case.

Angel and Spike made their way into the building up a flight of stairs. Angel heard the voice say whisper "_the demon," _just as they got to the top of the stairs.They saw Anya sitting in a chair by a window.

"Anya?" Spike said. She turned around and looked at them. Her face didn't really change that much at all when she saw them.

"Wow, I was just thinking about you guys a few days ago. I didn't know if your souls, being fused to demon bodies would come here or go to normal human afterlives. Well, this solves it. How did you get past the Grakarcian? It lives just outside here." she said.

Spike and Angel looked at each other. "Buffy," they both said. "Buffy? How would she get here, regardless of all her weird slayer stuff and resurrection issues she is still human. Hey, wait for me!" she chased them down the stairs. They all stopped and took a moment to take in the scene. A giant ice thing had broken out of the frozen ground and was looking down at Buffy, who looked at Spike and Angel. Anya was the only one who knew what to do. She ran in front of Buffy as the giant as it prepared to cover Buffy in ice, and it stopped. "The Grakarcian won't hurt me. I don't know why, but it won't. How did you get here? Did you stake them both and somehow get pulled in with them or something?"

"No, none of us are dead… ok we are all dead… well I'm resurrected and they are undead but, damn it. We are here to take you home. Angel, what was that magical mumbo jumbo?"

"Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha" He said with his eyes closed. Even the giant blankly stared at him.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Nice rescue mission jackasses, maybe Spike should click his ruby heels and say there's no place like home."

Grandka East: Faith

The four of them had found themselves inside a glowing gold orb floating above the treetops. The orb, provided by Dawn. Gunn filled Faith in on what had happened since they last met when Faith put her hand up to stop Gunn form talking. "_the angel."_ She heard whispered.

"Dawn, stop the boat." Faith said. "We're there."

"How do you know?" Asked Giles.

"A little birdie told me. Dawn, take us down." The orb descended into the trees. A swamp was reviled, and also a building that seemed very clean for being in the middle of the swampy forest. They entered the building and up the stairs until the found Cordelia asleep on the floor. She woke up when they entered her room.

"Faith? Gunn, Dawn, Giles? What are…" she sputtered.

"Don't strain yourself angel, we're the rescue party. " faith said

"Oh thank god, I though you would never get here. One minute I'm saying bye to tall, dark, and mopey, and next thing I know I'm in hell, then swamp world." She stood up. "So, plane, train, or automobile?"

"None of the above," Faith responded. She and the rest of the group walked closer to Cordelia, "Magick. Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha" Nothing.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Grandka West: Illyria

Yet another Demon fell to the ground. Illyria had observed that even when she killed them they started to heal. Part of her resented that. The path of armed demons had led her right to the building she was sure held Fred. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard "_the vessel,"_ in her head. She walked up the stairs to great herself.

"Fred."

"What. Who are you?"

"I'm Illyria. The one who… the one who used you."

"You mean the one that killed me and sent me to hell?"

"Yes."

Fred ran at Illyria and started pounding on her chest. Kicking her, lashing out with all her limbs. Illyria just stared blankly at the wall.

"I'm here to bring you back." Illyria said without any emotion.

"Liar!" Fred screamed, still hitting her slightly bluer double. Illyria picked Fred up around the waist and carried her to the wall.

"Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha." She waited a moment, and so did Fred, then she started beating down on Illyria again. "Ogaci Temraz, Renthou Clentha!" Once again nothing happened. "Something is wrong. Fred, I understand why you are doing this, but you have to stop."

"You made me die in Wesley's arms!"

"Just as he died in mine." Illyria said, for the first time emotion was in her voice. Anger had put an edge on it that forced Fred to stop.

"Did you kill him too?" Fred asked.

"No. I… I tried to save him. But I was too late. He was stabbed in his midsection, and he bled to death. His last words were to you, he wanted you to know he loved you." Illyria put her down and she sank to the floor. "I am trying to bring you back to the world of the living, but something is wrong."

Fred just looked up at her. "So, what do you want me to do?"

"This isn't the first time you have been stuck in another dimension. Hansom man save us from the monsters." Illyria said, looking at Fred, something like sorrow covering her face. "I never… I'm a god. I saw you as an ant that could be used to return me to my place. I think I regret it now."

Fred somehow knew that this was the closest thing to an apology Illyria had ever said, and was somehow accepting it.

"So, we wait."


End file.
